Things can change pretty quickly when you’re 20 years old and have just dethroned the reigning Olympic Champion. In Tokyo, life changed rapidly for Australia’s Ariarne Titmus as she won Olympic Gold in the 400 free ahead of Katie Ledecky.
After becoming a two-time Olympic champion in 2021, Titmus took a well-earned break from swimming, not touching a pool for three months after the Games. This break was more of a mental reset than a physical necessity, allowing her to focus on hobbies and activities outside of the pool.
In the years since, Titmus has continued her upward trajectory, setting personal bests in the 200 and 400 freestyle, plus tying her best time in the 800 free at the World Championships in Fukuoka last summer.
Not too long after, however, Titmus underwent an unexpected surgery when a benign ovarian tumor was discovered during an MRI she received for hip pain. Thankfully, the surgery went well and Titmus began the road to recovery, and while she claims it was a blessing that it came in the fall and not this spring, having an incident like that less than 12 months from the Olympic Games is less than ideal.
“My mind was kind of at tug of war for a bit there,” she told News Corp Australia’s Julian Linden ahead of Trials. “When all the surgery and everything happened, I was going through the process of figuring out what the growth was and my mind kind of just forgot about swimming because I was so worried about everything else. It put a lot of things into perspective, made me realize there’s so much life beyond swimming.”
With Olympic Trials winding down in Brisbane, Titmus posted the second-fastest time ever in her dominant win of the 400 free on day 1, missing her own WR by only 0.06. She then went on to shatter the world record in the 200 free beating former WR holder Mollie O’Callahan in the process. O’Callaghan had claimed the gold medal and world record in the 200 freestyle last summer at the World Championships.
Looking forward, Titmus discussed her plan to take a big break from swimming following the Paris Olympics. She says her recent health scare has given her a new perspective on life and while she appreciates the privilege of competing on the world stage, she looks forward to getting away from the sport for a while like she did in 2021.
“It makes you realize what a short amount of time in your life and what an opportunity it is to be training for an Olympics to go there and win gold medals. A lot of people would dream to be in my position. A lot of people long to be Olympians and Olympic Champions. I know I’ve worked incredibly hard for it, but I feel very grateful and lucky that I have the opportunity and I’ve been blessed with a gift to go to the Olympics and win, hopefully, gold medals for our country.”
Titmus reiterates that this will not be retirement, but she cannot say for certain how long she will be away from the sport. “I really want to have a break and feel ready to come back to training really missing it,” she explained.
Despite her recent health difficulties and upcoming break, Titmus has been anything but irrelevant this year. She is off to a blazing start at Olympic Trials and is gearing up for a great Olympics later this summer.
Heading into Paris, she says she has “unfinished business” and claims that she doesn’t believe that she has reached her peak but that, “the Paris Olympics will be my best opportunity to hone in on that and peak.”
You can review the Trials results here.